The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing tampons employing a needling apparatus. In particular, the method and apparatus is useful in the manufacture of absorbent tampons for feminine hygiene.
Various methods of manufacturing absorbent tampons are known. One relatively well-known method is used to manufacture commercial, radially-expanding tampons. The method is generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,422,496, U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,100, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,310,269. In this method, a portion of length of nonwoven material is wound up to form an approximately cylindrical blank of fibrous material. The circumferential surface of this cylindrical blank is pressed radially relative to the longitudinal mid-axis of the cylindrical blank. The nonwoven material may be provided to this process through several methods. Generally, the nonwoven is formed of a carded fibrous web that is gathered to form a narrow strip of the fibrous material. As the side edges of this strip ultimately form the insertion and withdrawal ends of the resulting tampon, the condition of the edges of the strip influence the quality of the final tampon product.
Various methods of forming nonwoven fabrics are known, including needlepunching. In such a method, loose fibers are interlocked into a nonwoven structure by use of reciprocating barbed needles through the massed fibers to displace fibers from a generally transverse orientation to a perpendicular orientation. The needled fabric with perpendicularly oriented fibers is substantially stronger than the massed fiber structure prior to needling. Examples of needlepunching apparatus and methods are disclosed in EP 492-432, EP 520869, EP 1983930, U.S. Pat. No. 2,036,766, U.S. Pat. No. 2,902,746, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,199,166.
These apparatus and methods generally provide large nonwoven fabric webs that are subsequently slit and rolled for storage prior to subsequent use in other manufacturing operations. The slitting is critical to provide neat and clean edges of the fabric webs. Otherwise, uneven edges allows for fibers to extend from these edges resulting in unsightly fiber extensions from the resulting product. Worse yet, these fiber extensions can become loose from the fabric web. The slitting operations thus provide for clean fabric web edges. We have discovered that employing a small needling apparatus in the manufacture of individual fibrous tampons without slitting the edges results in the drawbacks described above. Therefore, what is needed is a small, efficient apparatus and method to form nonwoven fabric webs that can be used in the manufacture of absorbent tampons that greatly reduces fiber extensions from the fabric web edges.